Comments for Hands of Ruinhttps://handsofruin.com
Hands of Ruin is Colin Z. Robertson's martial industrial and dark ambient music project.Wed, 28 Oct 2015 18:38:40 +0000hourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.5Comment on Is all martial industrial the same? by Colin Z. Robertsonhttps://handsofruin.com/2015/10/19/is-all-martial-industrial-the-same/#comment-8013
Wed, 28 Oct 2015 18:38:40 +0000http://handsofruin.com/?p=227#comment-8013Ken: Thank you, and my pleasure.
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Wed, 28 Oct 2015 18:38:06 +0000http://handsofruin.com/?p=227#comment-8012Sage: Thank you for your response. I don’t think we’re in much disagreement. I think I just want to put the emphasis on the more positive aspects of the genre. I’ll make a couple of more detailed points, though:

You say that there are labels that are releasing anything, regardless of quality. That may be true, but… that’s partly just a response to the ease and low cost of making and distributing music these days. It’s not at all restricted to martial industrial. It’s the case with all electronic music, and to a slightly lesser extent non-electronic music as well. If anything, I’m positive about martial industrial because the situation in, say, dark ambient seems even worse to me. (But maybe that’s just a matter of taste: mediocre martial is more palatable to me than mediocre ambient.)

As for the cliche of saying, “it’s not political,” I think actually I find myself more annoyed by statements that are clearly political but are also incomprehensible. The genre seems to attract more than its fair share of half-baked “Europe is in decline!” pseudo-intellectual posturing. Nevertheless… I do want to be clear that that’s not the whole of the genre.

]]>Comment on Is all martial industrial the same? by Ken Holewczynskihttps://handsofruin.com/2015/10/19/is-all-martial-industrial-the-same/#comment-7954
Thu, 22 Oct 2015 20:41:39 +0000http://handsofruin.com/?p=227#comment-7954Nice article and thanks for placing my project in the “more interesting” list.
]]>Comment on Is all martial industrial the same? by Sage L. Weatherfordhttps://handsofruin.com/2015/10/19/is-all-martial-industrial-the-same/#comment-7912
Mon, 19 Oct 2015 22:15:42 +0000http://handsofruin.com/?p=227#comment-7912It’s not necessarily that all martial industrial sounds the same, or even that it’s X or Y. I think as with any oversimplified comment like that, people just aren’t spending enough time with it before they comment on it (or in the case of social media, they’re just going out of their way to make a witty comment for acknowledgement). The differences are clear between what passes as high-quality, especially—as you noted—when it comes to a band like Parzival.

The problem for me comes with labels like Rage in Eden (whose efforts I do appreciate regardless of what I say here) and Twilight Records out of Argentina who seem to be releasing virtually everything that comes their way, regardless of quality, content, or originality. It has flooded the genre in the last half-decade or so with barely thought-out garbage. Then there’s the fact that some of these projects are edgy enough to follow a particular aesthetic, but don’t have the fortitude to not be vague about it. Laibach’s already given us all of that approach that we’ll ever need. Some people could stand to just be forthright about their thoughts, philosophies, and intentions instead of hiding behind all of these cowardly “IT’S NOT POLITICAL” disclaimers when it clearly is in one way or another. It doesn’t save them from losing face with a potential fanbase. All it does is serve to cheapen their art.

In regard to the perceptions of potential fans and the artists themselves, I don’t think people have allowed themselves to have high enough expectations for the genre, or for their own music. It’s almost difficult to cover any bands from the genre at this point because the whole thing has become one big, laughable cliche.

I’ve been joking for some months now that the next band that quotes Evola in some shape or form is going to get a terrible write-up because so few people seem to be able to break free of the cliches. I really believe the genre still has a lot of potential. It just doesn’t seem that most of the people who are very attracted to the genre are capable of thinking for themselves or talented enough musicians to find their own sound. There needs to be more instrumentation and less synth. More dedicated musicians, less keyboard tinkerers.

You should email me when you have a moment.

]]>Comment on The Hands of Ruin typeface by Typeface update | Hands of Ruinhttps://handsofruin.com/2015/04/26/the-hands-of-ruin-typeface/#comment-6572
Wed, 08 Jul 2015 06:26:03 +0000http://handsofruin.com/?p=195#comment-6572[…] notice that the stems on the current version of the typeface are heavier than they were originally. The typeface should be a bit on the heavy side for Hands of […]
]]>Comment on Review: Atomtrakt – Artefakte des Verderbens by Colin Z. Robertsonhttps://handsofruin.com/2013/11/28/review-atomtrakt-artefakte-des-verderbens/#comment-6
Mon, 21 Jul 2014 18:25:40 +0000http://example.com/dummy#comment-6Heimatwacht: Thank you! Much appreciated. And that adds yet more weight to the Battle of Stalingrad hypothesis. The more I learn about this album, the better it becomes.
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Sun, 20 Jul 2014 20:43:37 +0000http://example.com/dummy#comment-5Triumphzug Sample = “Russian Red Army Choir – The Sacred War”

Great review!

Heil!

]]>Comment on The Fall of the House of Usher by Colin Z. Robertsonhttps://handsofruin.com/2012/04/30/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher/#comment-2
Tue, 24 Jun 2014 06:57:47 +0000http://example.com/dummy#comment-2Diego: That’s high praise indeed. :) As it happens, I’ve just started work on a soundtrack for Watson & Webber’s Lot in Sodom. At the moment I only have initial sketches for the first two sections (out of maybe six or seven), so it’s early days, but I’ll be sure to post updates on this site when I have more to show.
]]>Comment on The Fall of the House of Usher by Diegohttps://handsofruin.com/2012/04/30/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher/#comment-1
Sun, 22 Jun 2014 23:45:59 +0000http://example.com/dummy#comment-1I came. Are you planning to do another one?
]]>Comment on Iudicium by Colin Z. Robertsonhttps://handsofruin.com/2012/12/21/iudicium/#comment-4
Thu, 14 Feb 2013 07:11:52 +0000http://example.com/dummy#comment-4Christopher: Many thanks for your kind and detailed words. I hadn’t thought of it in relation to this piece, but I do love Koyaanisqatsi.
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